Crepe myrtles beautify Bluffton's landscape

He never has been a gardener and coming from the west Texas town of San Angelo, which was known in the past for an abundance of sheep but not for being particularly botanical.

I was a bit surprised he even noticed crepe myrtles, much less gave them a nickname.

This plant that is so obvious on the landscape this time of year because of its profusion of blooms was introduced to Charleston in 1790 by the French botanist Andre Michaux.

Sometimes, there is controversy about the care and maintenance of our local crepe myrtles, or the Lagerstroemia Indica, as they are called by those partial to Latin names.

Personally, I have always been horrified at the annual trimming that leaves them as scalped as a Parris Island Marine recruit.

Surely, there is a better way.

Back in the days when life was simpler and George Heyward was mayor of Bluffton, Babbie Guscio persuaded him to name the crepe myrtle Bluffton’s town tree.

This enterprising citizen, who not only is proprietress of The Store, but has organized many local events, is an ardent fan of this shrub native to India and Asia. Babbie held a fundraiser allowing her to purchase 300 “watermelon red” crepe myrtles.

“They are beautiful,” she told me, “even in winter when the bark is white and the branches bare.”

I asked her what she had done with those 300 plants and she said she had put in the newspaper that anyone living in Bluffton was welcome to two or three plants.

“They came like a herd of locusts,” she said. “Now, you can see them all around town. I still ask people to plant a crepe myrtle on Arbor Day.”

Now that’s community spirit at its finest.

There is something about crepe myrtles that makes people plant them in groups or in a row, almost never alone. I see them lined up like soldiers on highway medians, along subdivision streets and in front of public buildings.

Their very name “crepe” is a reference to things that are thin, like pancakes, fabrics, rubber shoe soles and the iniquitous crepe paper we spent hours using to decorate school gyms, classrooms and dances.

In spite of this delicate identification and dainty appearance, crepe myrtles are a hardy species.

In the heat of summer, when so many plants are drooping, their blooms are truly beautiful, brightening what might be an otherwise dreary landscape.

For years, the only color available was the dusky rose, but botanists persevered in their research and have come up with both a deep pink, a soft red and a paper white whose clusters of blooms tend to resemble a tree full of bridal bouquets.

Whatever the treatment of the crepe myrtles, whether chopped or allowed to grow freely, you have to admit, they are a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

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